The Tema West Municipal Assembly, on Wednesday without further announcement, evicted squatters along the Accra-Tema Motorway.
The action of the Assembly followed the illegal occupation of portions of land along the Tema Motorway by squatters who had erected wooden structures along the highway.
But, according to the squatters, the action of the Assembly was so unexpected: “What went on was very unusual and we are suffering a lot. Some slept here overnight. We have nowhere to sleep yet we will still vote. We are pleading with government, if possible, to provide us a temporal settlement.
“We were given three months notice but in a week’s time they came to destroy our belongings,” one of the victims recounted in an interview with Adomonlie.com.
The residents complained bitterly about how unaware they were about the eviction, although they were given an eviction notice before the due date.
“We’re all Ghanaians and we all do vote and so the government should help us. We were at work when we received phone calls about the destruction but before we arrived, most of our things had already been destroyed and guns were pointed at us,” some of the residents said when speaking with Joy News.
Most of the affected squatters were upset because they had nowhere to go and got soaked in rains during the night.
The residents were notified by the Assembly to vacate the area due to their illegal settlements and also because they were also directly under the high tension pole on the Motorway.
The Assembly is yet to comment on Wednesday’s demolition.
Source: Adomonline | Catherine Mensah